Review: Savannah Grey by Cliff McNish

Author Cliff McNish is my Featured Author for April.

With its fabulous autumnal fantasy cover, what did I expect when Savannah Grey landed in my hands?

Well, to be honest, something of the standard fantasy fare of teen girl uses ‘powers’ to battle evil monster, with boy thrown in for that touch of romance teens girls seemingly always need, and no doubt including a rival, though being a McNish novel, there may be a plot twist or two.

What did I get?

A highly original, very different, urban horror fantasy.

Savannah is fifteen and an orphan. She is settled with her foster parents and has her best friend Nina life is fine except for a nagging sore throat and the feeling that things are changing. Persuaded to go to a party by Nina, she meets Reece, a boy with a scar on his neck, and there is an instant attraction. When she reacts badly at a hospital appointment, and a look at her throat shows something very wrong, Savannah is scared and worried. Whatever it is its not natural, she producing strange noises and energy and yet she is very protective of whatever it is. As other strange things happen, like birds and the winds behaving oddly, Savannah turns to Reece and we discover that he has the same affliction but the injury that left him scarred appears to have damaged whatever it is in his throat.

In the midst of this we meet the Ocrassa. Arriving on earth millions of years ago, the Ocrassa has survived using its unique abilities to adapt and assimilate; evolving over many millennia. The Ocrassa’s savage desire is to take and assimilate everything around it and use Savannah to achieve its aim; the teenager’s realisation that nature has chosen them for a purpose; and Savannah’s realisation that her throat is a weapon that she must control and master without knowing why. At the pint where you believe the story is heading towards the inevitable show-down between the two, McNish gives a monstrous twist to the tale.

In the best traditions of the horror genre, McNish takes the much used theme of good versus evil but he asked himself the question:

“To kill a monster, do you have to become one?”

There’s no make-up or clothes or drop dead gorgeous boys and bitchy girls to stress and angst over. Fascinating and intense, Savannah Grey mixes horror with elements of fantasy and science fiction to create a novel that is as darkly appealing as it is intelligent and sharply written. Brilliant!